Wilfried Zaha to Tottenham: Crystal Palace winger’s head has been turned by Spurs… but he could end up in fast lane to nowhere
WILFRIED ZAHA could have been anything he wanted to be.
A world-beater on his day, he was courted by the game’s biggest clubs when he made the breakthrough at Crystal Palace.
Manchester United, Arsenal and others were all fighting over him during Palace’s promotion season three years ago.
Now he wants to try his luck again, this time in the colours of Tottenham.
On the surface, Spurs’ £12million bid for the winger looks like a second chance for the boy who blew it at United.
The reality is that there is no conviction about their offer.
Spurs will take Zaha because he is English, making it easy for chairman Daniel Levy to satisfy the Premier League’s homegrown ruling.
Sure, they have sold him the dream, with a place at a progressive North London club waiting for him to make the move across the river.
If it works out, great. If not, they cut their losses and flog him back to Palace.
It is Levy’s way.
Chances are that it will be the same story as when he went to Old Trafford if he forces his way out of his boyhood club to join up with Mauricio Pochettino.
The official, sugar-coated line is that, at the age of 23, he wants to play Champions League football at Wembley.
It is all about ambition, apparently. Of course it is.
If everybody put their cards on the table, Zaha’s desire to move to White Hart Lane is all about his £35,000-a-week contract at Selhurst Park.
Nice work if you can get it but perhaps not so appealing when you discover the guy on the opposite wing pulls in double that.
Andros Townsend’s arrival from Newcastle on some big money has stirred the pot inside the dressing room.
The money men would not budge when Yannick Bolasie wanted more cash and Zaha, who has a contract until 2020, has been given exactly the same message.
When asked about Zaha’s future on Thursday night, Palace chairman Steve Parish told talkSPORT: “100 per cent he stays.” He sounded like he meant it.
Zaha, who is unlikely to start against Bournemouth today, is undeterred.
Even Alan Pardew, his manager at Palace, knows the winger’s head has been turned by the pull of Spurs.
He said: “I’ve some sympathy for the player because the agents have been in a kind of frenzy in this window, trying to get involved with players who are not even theirs.
“It’s something the FA or Premier League should look at. The agents should utilise their business in a better manner.
“I only talk to players if the opposing clubs give a clear indication to do that, otherwise it’s illegal.”
Palace will do well to remind Zaha where it all went wrong for him once before. Heading north is not for him.
He could not handle life in Manchester, a little boy lost in a dressing room full of superstars.
Ryan Giggs, Rio Ferdinand, Robin van Persie and Danny Welbeck were at United when he arrived.
Zaha, for all his talent, could not adapt.
Despite club recommendations to live in Cheshire’s golden triangle favoured by footballers — Alderley Edge, Prestbury or Wilmslow — he chose the suburbs of Bramhall.
When he upped sticks to return to Palace, the owner of the house sued him for failing to pay the rent for months.
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It took Parish’s intervention to resolve the issue.
Zaha had been signed by United on the recommendation of Sir Alex Ferguson’s son Darren, then manager of Peterborough, after a dazzling performance in a 2-1 win at London Road in November 2012.
The next day, when he was called into the England squad for a friendly against Sweden, Zaha turned up at St George’s Park without his boots.
An FA mandarin had to send a taxi to Palace’s training ground in South London to fetch them in time for his first day with the national team.
He left such a poor impression on Roy Hodgson, who capped him in a 4-2 defeat in Sweden, that he was never picked again.
Palace fans know what he is about, marvelling at the ball skills that rivalled Ronaldinho during their promotion season.
They love the kid to bits. He is also a favourite of Parish, with his progression from the streets of South London, through the academy and into the first team a source of satisfaction and pride. Rightly so.
Parish has always done his bit for Zaha, steering him in the direction of his current agent during some challenging moments in his teenage years.
It is ironic that the representative Parish once regarded so highly is now trying to convince the player to leave Palace.
There was a poker face about Pardew yesterday, even though he has been put in an awkward position by the publicity generated around Tottenham’s bid.
Pardew, publicly at least, wants the winger to stay.
It is there, at Selhurst Park, that he is the real star.